Formation of RNA and Proteins by High-Pressure Torsion: An Insight into the Origin of Life

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The high-pressure torsion method was applied to three amino acids (glycine, glutamic acid, and serine). All these amino acids were already detected in different meteorites. At the first step of the experiments, only pure forms of these amino acids were selected. The materials after processing by high-pressure torsion were examined by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance to find a piece of evidence for their polymerization. The most important finding was the formation of ethanol from glycine, while the crystal structures of three selected amino acids were significantly destroyed. The experiments were also conducted under different temperatures (300 K and 423 K) and pressures (1, 2 and 6 GPa) and it was found that enhancement of pressure and temperature can accelerate the structural changes. Although no evidence for the polymerization of amino acids and the formation of protein was achieved in the first step of experiments, these experiments confirmed that some additives which were present in the early Earth conditions should be mixed with the materials to examine the formation of polymers. Moreover, the amino acids were examined n dry conditions, but water is an important additive that needs to be considered in coming experiments.